Starbucks’ Unionized Square

By consumerist.comNovember 26, 2005

Baristas at the Starbucks in Union Square have made a bold move for headline writers everywhere, joining two other Manhattan stores in the ‘Starbucks Union.’ A division of the Industrial Workers of the World—The Fightin’ IU 600—the employees surrounded their store manager (a full-time employee) and demanded that they be allowed to serve high-quality coffee that didn’t taste like powered roofing shingle. Or maybe a guaranteed 30-hour work week and health care benefits. One of those.

So if you like to make sure that your national mega-chain is paying their workers a living wage (and enough hours a week), try one of the three unionized Starbucks. It will be the one across the street from the non-union Starbucks.